African American

It's early on a Friday afternoon, and I'm driving down Rossmore to the Kukatonor restaurant with food historian Dr. Jessica B. Harris. Kukatonor, I tell her, serves Liberian food. Harris has studied foods of the African diaspora for years. Her first cookbook, "Hot Stuff," an homage to the "piquant" foods of the diaspora, was published a decade ago. Her second book tackled Africa's culinary influence in the New World. Then came a book on Caribbean cooking and one on Brazilian cooking.

January 8, 1996 | MELVIN VAN PEEBLES, Melvin Van Peebles wrote, produced, directed and acted in the landmark "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" in 1971. He recently wrote and produced the award-winning "Panther" and he is currently editing a feature that he co-directed with his son, Mario

Maybe I just have a hyper sense of fair play, but, gulp, I find myself compelled to take computer in hand in defense of, of all things, the Hollywood studios, which I believe were unjustly maligned in Elaine Dutka's excellent piece " 'Exhale': The Right Film at the Right Time" (Calendar, Dec. 28). This mind you notwithstanding the fact that the article mentioned me. ("There's a great sense of anticipation and excitement in the African American community. . . .

The menu was distinctly Japanese--a bento (box) lunch of teriyaki chicken and grilled salmon. But the rest of the recent noontime program at the New Otani Hotel was dedicated to celebrating African American--not Japanese--culture. Motivational speaker Cindy Harper fired up the audience of several hundred with encouraging words such as: "You've got to fight the negativity that bombards you."

For 107 years, the remains of volunteer firefighter Sam Haskins have lain in an unmarked grave, his sacrifice to the city forgotten, his place in Los Angeles Fire Department history unnoticed. Soon, that will all change. A ceremony will be scheduled to commemorate Haskins' death. A headstone will be placed on his grave at Evergreen Cemetery in Boyle Heights, where he was buried in 1895 after losing his life in the line of duty.

While teaching a course in African American studies, I had a student who was a math major. She was taking calculus and physics and feeling a little overwhelmed, as most students do at some point, said, "Dr. Kwaku, I'm tired of math. It's so hard. I'm going to change my major to African American studies." Needless to say, I had a long talk with her about the importance of staying in math, for all the right reasons.

A Los Angeles School Board majority on Monday stalled the divisive debate over Ebonics, postponing further consideration on how to help all students master mainstream English until after the important $2.4-billion school bond vote on the April 8 municipal ballot. It was a common-sense decision but it's a shame it took weeks of effort to arrive at something so perfectly obvious.

The Smithsonian Institution has selected a roster of high-profile corporate leaders, including media empress Oprah Winfrey and the chairmen of American Express, Merrill Lynch, IBM and Time Warner, to lead the effort to establish the country's first comprehensive museum on African American life. The Smithsonian Board of Regents this week appointed 19 executives to the founding Council of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which is scheduled to open in 2013.

John Henry Redwood, an actor with a deep baritone voice and a football player's build who was especially known for his roles in August Wilson's plays, died June 17 at home in south Philadelphia of heart disease. He was 60. Redwood -- who also wrote several popular plays of his own, including "The Old Settler," which was made into a PBS television film in 2001 -- started his acting career in New York in the 1970s while also studying to be a Protestant minister.

Like Dennis Green himself, the announcement was subtle. But its meaning was clear. The news release Tuesday said that Green, the Minnesota Vikings' coach, had been named to the NFL's competition committee. Unwritten was that for the first time in the history of the NFL, an African American will directly contribute to the making of its rules. Green is not only the first African American on the committee, but must be considered one of the most influential African Americans in professional sports.

Willie Wilson and Earl Trent Jr. are African American, both pastors and leaders of churches in the nation's capital that are affiliated with the black Progressive National Baptist Convention. Both men also hold strong feelings about the "Million Man March," an Oct. 16 rally in Washington organized by controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan to spiritually rejuvenate America's black men. But that's where the similarities end.